Sofia is the capital and largest city in Bulgaria. It has a metro population of 1.681 million residents with a density of 400 people per square mile. If you plan on visiting this city, you will want to check out the Balkan cuisine, history, architecture, historical buildings, free mineral water from drinking fountains, and more. Additionally, you will want to use a VPN whenever you there. It is important to do so, and we’ll tell you why in a moment. Before we do, though, please take a look at the best VPNs for Sofia.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 110 | |
| 3 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 4 |  | 9.2 | 76 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 280 | |
The beautiful and historic city is located in the western part of the country and is by far the most visited city there. The Freedomhouse.org report lists the country as free with an aggregate score of 80/100 (100 is the most free). In comparison, Even the United States scores an 86. That means you may be ok, but you may also need to worry about government corruption as the country continues to struggle with it. That is why you need to use a VPN to protect your privacy. Again, you will likely be ok, but there is no use in taking chances. Simply connect to a server to encrypt your internet traffic. That will make it much harder for anyone to monitor your activities online.
The second reason to use a VPN is to help you get around any possible geo-restrictions or government censorship in the city or country. While there may not be any evidence of the government necessarily blocking access to websites, you will have issues if you try to access content from outside the area. Of course, the solution to that is to connect to a VPN located in another region. That will fool any geo-blocking software into thinking you are located in the region you choose.
What is the Best VPN for Sofia?
For the best answer to this question, we’ll look at some important things. In this case, factors about censorship are the most important. After looking, we can decide what the best VPN for Sofia is.
- Military-grade encryption with strong components to help protect your privacy while in Sofia
- Ability to get around geo-blocked content while in the city
- Servers that will perform well when we test them on speed tests
- High network stability on large and stable networks to help avoid disconnects while there
- Providers with a no-logs policy
- Mobile apps and support for Amazon Firestick devices
Let’s take a more in-depth look at the best VPNs for Sofia.
1. Best VPN for Sofia: ExpressVPN
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ExpressVPN brings together fast VPN access with MediaStreamer which acts as a Smart DNS service to unblock access to geo-restricted content. The VPN service will help encrypt your connection and unblock live sporting events. You will even find a list of the latest live entertainment and sporting events on their website. Being in the British Virgin Islands puts ExpressVPN outside the 5 eyes and 14 eyes countries. They maintain a no-log policy that has been verified through high profile legal requests over the years.
ExpressVPN manages a very large VPN network. Beyond the USA, the ExpressVPN network boasts thousands of servers in key locations to help protect user’s privacy. You can connect to their VPN network to protect your privacy, unblock censorship, and watch your favorite streaming services from anywhere.
The ExpressVPN app allows you to select a server location down to the city but you do not need to choose a specific server. Instead, the client will select the fastest server in your chosen location. You also need to know that some cities are not shown on the recommended tab inside the client. You may find that issue with servers in the area. Simply select the “All” tab, open Europe, and then open Sofia. At this point, you can select servers there. When we tested a server in Sofia, the speed was 112.08 Mbps.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of using ExpressVPN is their support for a wide range of devices. ExpressVPN offers custom VPN software for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Connect your desktop and mobile at the same time with up to 3 simultaneous connections. You can also install the ExpressVPN web extension for Chrome or Firefox. Want to protect your entire home network with a single VPN account? If so you can use the ExpressVPN router app to set it up. The MediaStreamer feature adds Smart DNS support to devices like game consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, etc.), media boxes (Apple TV, Roku, Nvidia Shield TV, etc.), and Smart TVs.
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ExpressVPN performed very well in our speed tests. They are a great choice for privacy and to unblock geo-restrictions. Customer support is available 24/7 to provide assistance and answer any questions. Enjoy the best VPN for less with confidence as ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee.
2. Best VPN for Sofia: CyberGhost
Sign up for 36 months for just $2.75 a month (79% discount)
CyberGhost was founded in 2001 by 7 enthusiastic young team members in Bucharest, Romania. Since that time the company has grown into one of the largest VPN services in the world. The team of 50+ members is focused on protecting users privacy. Robert Knapp, co-founder and CEO, continues to lead the team even after they joined the Crossrider group in 2017. Since that time the CyberGhost network has expanded quite a bit.
CyberGhost offers a nice mix of server locations, strong encryption, and the ability to unblock popular streaming services like Netflix, YouTube Red, and Amazon Prime. Some of the channels even let you unblock geo-restrictions for multiple regions. For example, you can access Amazon Prime video content in the US, Germany, or UK. The Windows client also gives you the option to surf anonymously, protect WiFi, torrent anonymously, unblock basic websites (Google, Facebook Instagram, etc.), and choose a server.
Since we wanted to test a server in Sofia, we opened the Windows client and clicked on the “Choose My Server” option. From there you can expand any country and select a specific server. The CyberGhost network includes a number of servers in Sofia. We connected to one of them and tested the performance. As you can see, our download speed was 44.49 Mbps.
The CyberGhost VPN client is one of our favorites. It is very easy to use and includes a number of advanced features to help protect your online privacy. They have a development team in Germany that is continually adding features to the client and mobile apps. You can sign up for full access to the CyberGhost network from just $2.75 a month during their current promotion.
3. Best VPN for Sofia: NordVPN
Sign up for 36 months for just $2.99 per month (75% discount)
NordVPN is based in Panama which some users prefer to using a VPN company that’s actually headquartered in the United States. You will find that NordVPN has a strong presence in the US with servers located throughout the country. Members have full access to their network in the USA and beyond for a very good price.
You will find that NordVPN has perhaps the best mix of services for the price if you subscribe to an account for a longer period of time. All users have full access to their network and custom software. You can connect using the VPN client for Windows or Mac. They also have an easy-to-use mobile app for Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad) devices. You can use the NordVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. NordVPN offers some advanced privacy features like double VPN, P2P servers, and dedicated IP that really helps the service stand out.
NordVPN hosts a number of servers in Sofia. From the console, clicking on the 3 horizontal dots to the right of the country, you can locate the server area and see the percentages of the servers available. We tested a server located in Sofia. The download speed was 13.27 Mbps.
Want to access streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world? If so NordVPN is a great choice. They are one of the only VPN services that can still unblock Netflix. You can sign up for unlimited VPN and SmartDNS service from just $2.99 a month with a 3-year membership.
4. Best VPN for Sofia: IPVanish
Sign up for 12 months for just $4.87 a month (60% discount)
IPVanish is a very popular service and has many servers located all over the world. No matter which continent you are on, you can a solid performance from the servers there. They are typically fast, and the provider has one of the largest networks in the world.
Along with its large world network, IPVanish hosts servers in every continent other than Antarctica. As we mentioned, they usually are one of the fastest providers in the marketplace. It is known for having multiple server locations in a number of countries. You can select a location or get more specific by picking an individual server. IPVanish is excellent for protecting your privacy but can be hit and miss for unblocking popular streaming services.
IPVanish has servers all over the region and they are all available to you. If you happen to see a server that has the letter “a” as part of its server name, those are the fastest in the network. We connected to an IPVanish server in Vienna. The speed was 12.44 Mbps.
When it comes to value IPVanish is hard to beat. They offer unlimited access to their VPN network and custom software for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon Firestick and more for $7.50 a month or $58.49 a year. That works out to just $4.87 a month on the annual plan. A 7-day money back guarantee covers all new members.
5. Best VPN for Sofia: HMA
Sign up for 36 months for just $2.99 a month (75% discount)
HideMyAss was brought to life in 2005 when Jack Cator, a 16-year-old student in England, decided that he wanted to create a service to help people avoid censorship. Specifically, Jack was unable to access social media sites and online games because they were blocked on the school network. HMA added hundreds of thousands of users the first month and has since grown into one of the largest VPN services in the world with over 350 server locations. Privax, the parent company of HMA Pro VPN, joined the AVG team in 2015.
For those that want to find a VPN provider with the most server locations, HideMyAss is your best choice. Just keep in mind that HMA logs user activity which is a concern for some VPN users. HMA hosts some VPN servers in Sofia. To connect to a server there, you will want to go into the “Location Mode” and select “Change Location” to get started. Then click on the “Cities” tab and search for Sofia and tested the speed there. We connected to a server there to test and found the speed to be 13.21 Mbps.
In 2016 HMA and a few other leading VPN providers led the way in simplifying their custom client software. The result is a full set of custom apps that make it easy for any user to connect to the HMA network and encrypt your connection. They have software available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. You can also connect to HMA through your router. HMA offers unlimited VPN access from just $4.99 a month and offers all new users a 30-day risk-free money back guarantee.
And there you have the best VPN provider options to use while you are in Sofia. That said, there are other options available than the ones we list above. If you would like to see them, please look at our top 10 VPN list. You can expect them all to work well, but we specifically targeted the providers above to work for Sofia. That way, you will have access to the best speeds available in the area. By reading our guide, you can make the best decision possible.